Columnist Leigh Newman dishes on the little moments of "blissification" that keep our unions together—despite all of the daily challenges.

By Leigh Newman

What nobody says about marriage is that, even in the most ideal, peaceful pairings, it's a tumultuous relationship. You love each other madly; then you're annoyed with each other. You find each other hilarious or perhaps even extraordinary; then, after one long so-called discussion, you really, really can't stand each other. So you give up, hurt and defeated until...you love each other madly again. This is why—when all the atoms and gasses were roiling during the Big Bang, not just water and hydrogen were created, but so were golden moments: those few seconds of everyday blissification that remind you exactly why you decided to spend the rest of your life with somebody who, for example, doesn't wash out the little measuring cup that comes with liquid cold medicine before slapping it back on the top of the bottle upside down, ensuring that thick purple goo will drip down all of over the counter.